The price for a barrel of oil has moved relentlessly up over the $50 mark this month. Brent Crude was at over $52 a barrel by mid June as oil traders watched bloated inventories fall.
Oil has almost doubled now from wintertime lows on news of unplanned supply interruptions, a slow decline in output from the US shale formations and robust consumption from drivers enjoying cheap prices at the pumps.
At 1.4 billion barrels, petrol stocks remain 25 percent higher than two years ago.
